Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny T.D. at Le Cercle de l’Union

I am delighted to be here this evening to mark the beginning of an important Irish Trade Mission to Lyon.

While it is my first visit as Taoiseach to this wonderful city, I know that Ireland is well represented here by our Ambassador, Geraldine Byrne Nason, who has made out-reach to Lyon a key priority.

We are also, of course, very fortunate to have our energetic Honorary Consul, Mr Bruno Boccard, representing us in Lyon all year round.

Although Ireland may appear to some as a peripheral island on the edge of the Atlantic we see our home as being at the heart of Europe. This is true historically, culturally and economically. Tonight I stand in the heart of France – at the core of Europe – the capital of the Rhone Alpes Region.

You are at the crossroads of so many routes, and indeed, the Silk Road, so beautifully portrayed in the fable by Alessandro Baricco.

Lyon has long been a hub for global commerce and a loyal trading partner for Ireland too.

Our island nation and your dynamic region have much in common in terms of attractiveness, innovation, economic growth and, of course, a shared love of gastronomy which is everywhere in this great food capital ! The true recipe for an excellent partnership!

Tonight, I would like to begin by giving you a snapshot of what Ireland has achieved; how we have worked to reclaim our place globally and to secure our recovery for the benefit of our people.

Ireland’s hard won recovery

This time six years ago, Ireland was engulfed in crisis.

We faced into a fiscal crisis with an international bailout, a banking crisis and an unemployment crisis.

But since then Ireland has come back from the brink. Working with the Irish people we have stabilised our public finances and successfully exited the EU-IMF bailout. We are well on track to reduce the deficit to well below 3% of GDP this year.

While successfully managing the public finances we have returned the economy to growth – the fastest in the EU.

Last year our economy grew by 4.8% and exports increased by 10.5%.

But most importantly we are getting Ireland working again.

We have reversed the trend in unemployment from a peak of over 15% in 2012 to 9.5% today.

Recent data indicates that job creation continues apace with 1,300 jobs created every week in 2015 and across all regions of Ireland.

Our plan is to help create 40,000 new jobs this year and to replace all the jobs lost in the recession by 2018.

We have made great strides in restoring our competitiveness, which together with our talent pool and track record has made us one of the best places in the world to do business.

The Irish people have always been our country’s greatest asset and the reason why people invest, locate and create jobs in Ireland in such numbers. Their determination to turn the country around and their resilience and hard work over the last number of years has paid off.

But this is only the start of the Irish recovery.

– Full employment;

– Strong and sustainable economic growth;

– A well-functioning, healthy financial system;

– A balanced budget;

are all achievable goals over the next five years with the right approach and the right policy choices.

Bilateral relations: steadfast support from France and Europe

Our recent progress would not have been possible without the steadfast support of our European partners, and of course, France.

Over the centuries we have grown a relationship between our two countries based on mutual respect and solidarity.

We can all recall the welcome given to our Wild Geese in 17th Century France, the adventure of General Humbert in my own county Mayo, in Killala in 1798, the young Irish men who died in battle at the Somme or the Irish women who joined the Resistance in France in the Second World War. Our contemporary ties have a long and noble lineage.

Today, we don’t found monasteries or support each other in war, but rather in that quintessential European way, we live together, work together, and we trade with each other.

I have had the personal and professional pleasure of working alongside President Hollande at the European Council table where he has been a true friend to Ireland. I salute his leadership which was crucial to the agreement reached on Greece. A stable and prosperous Eurozone is essential for us all.

While at times it may have seemed like the Union was limping from one late night emergency summit to another, the EU has, albeit piecemeal, developed tools for a stronger economic and monetary union.

A strengthened fiscal framework, enhanced economic surveillance and progress towards a banking union mean that the EU is in a much better shape to withstand the economic headwinds of global markets.

Measures that were once thought impossible, such as the ECB Quantitative Easing programme or the Juncker Investment Package will give a welcome boost to the real economy. These policy innovations give us cause for optimism in the creative force of European politics to find solutions for the other major challenges of our time: migration, terrorism and climate change.

Our countries have always been there for each other during difficult times.

For my part, I was honoured to join President Hollande and other international leaders at the solidarity rally in the streets of Paris in the wake of the Charlie Hebdoterrorist attacks in January.

This afternoon, I called on the President in the Elysée to discuss our shared interests and commitment to fostering growth, stability and opportunity in both our countries and the wider EU.

We are united in our prioritisation of efforts that create growth and jobs in the EU. This is not an alternative to fiscal discipline but as a parallel track, essential for the well-being of the people of Europe, above all Europe’s young generation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ireland and France have been friends through good times and bad. The strength of these ties between our two countries is now pivotal to how we create growth and jobs in both Ireland and France.

The next generation is depending on that.

France is Ireland’s third largest market for Irish company exports. I am delighted that in Lyon tomorrow morning we will facilitate the signing of contracts between Irish companies and their French partners worth over €5 million.

Exports to France by Irish companies grew by over 5% in 2014 to €850 million with a target to hit the €1 billion mark in 2015. The biggest growth in 2014 has come from food, lifesciences and construction products industries; sectors that Lyon excels in.

Fostering an “enterprise culture” is essential for a small open economy such as ours. We will have to implement our own “Macron Law” each year to keep ahead of the curve and to remain competitive and nimble in a global, connected environment.

Ireland is rated number 1 in the Eurozone for ease of doing business.

I referred to gastronomy earlier. France is Ireland’s largest export market for lamb, seafood and artisan beer. Irish food producers attend Lyon’s renowned international food fair Sirha and Irish beef was honoured to be chosen for theBocuse d’Or competition here last year.

Like France, tourism is a key contributor to employment – over 200,000 people – and is one of our largest domestic industries.

In 2014, we welcomed an estimated 8.4 million overseas visitors to the island of Ireland.

Airline access continues to be very important to us and I am delighted that there are direct daily flights from Lyon to Dublin. Access for an Island nation is fundamental to trade success. Our links with Lyon are critical.

Our rugged landscapes appeal to French visitors. This was a record year for visitors from France – over 400,000 of you came to visit us!

Last year we launched the “Wild Atlantic Way”, a road trip stretching over 2500km of some of the most dramatic coastline in the world. In the French imagination, it is now vying with Connemara for its beauty and uniqueness.

This year we launched Ireland’s “Ancient East” discovery route – which covers 5,000 years of history over 500 miles.

Our Vision for the future

Looking to the future, we have to remain aware of the challenges we face as a society and an economy.

In parallel to restoring our economy, we need to reconnect as a society with those who have yet to feel the effects of the upturn and those who left our shores to seek a new life elsewhere.

Emigration has had a devastating impact on our economy as we lost people of talent and energy.

All our efforts are focussed on ensuring that more people – throughout Ireland – start to benefit through more jobs or improved income. We also want our people to be able to return home. No one should have to feel they are in exile.

And yet, alongside the nostalgia for home, we are also a nation of ardent explorers and pioneers. The five million voices of our small nation are hugely amplified by the seventy million around the globe who are Irish by birth, or descent, or desire.

Indeed, Irish people through the centuries have always been received, welcomed and sheltered here in France. Today, for nearly 15,000 Irish people, and growing, France is home too.

As we approach the centenary of the proclamation of our independence next year, I believe that it will be the year when the number of our people coming home will be greater than the numbers who leave. What could be a more fitting legacy for 2016 than to see families and communities reunited by the return of our young people from abroad?

This is what gives meaning to the efforts that we have made in government to reshape our economy and our destiny.

I hope that next year on St Patrick’s Day in Lyon, once again under the green glow of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière, you will be celebrating joint business success, friendship and our diaspora in this vibrant city.

Thank you.